Why and how to hide and protect your IP address on the web (VPN, Anti-tracking)

We have seen it even more with the health crisis and the use of teleworking or online shopping, we are spending more and more time on the Internet, and above all we are carrying out more and more procedures that involve transferring data private or even confidential on the network: purchases, banking transactions, administrative procedures, and with telework transfer of professional files, so many uses that can unfortunately be of great interest to malicious people or simply looking for data to exploit commercially. And if you think you are still safe on the net, think again: on the one hand, cybercriminals take advantage of this situation to develop malware or fraudulent sites, and on the other, most websites make extensive use of tracking devices to better understand your habits. It's time to protect your privacy!

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Why protect and hide your IP address on the internet?

The IP address is an identifier at the base of all exchanges on the Internet, via the famous TCP/IP protocol. An IP address identifies your computer on the network and therefore makes it possible to trace back to you and to the data of your Internet service provider. No matter how much we say we have nothing to hide, there are several reasons why we might want to hide this IP address. The first is simply to preserve a certain anonymity. For various and varied reasons, we may need to ensure that we cannot be identified on the web, even for reasons as innocuous as to circumvent devices which, for example, modify the prices of reservations when they detect the same address that comes back to a site.

Another very good reason is to simply want to avoid hacks, and this is particularly true when connecting from a Wi-Fi network whose security level is not necessarily known. In this case, we obviously want the data not to be intercepted. But this is a possibility, and we have even seen fake public Wi-Fi networks used for this purpose, which play on the lack of vigilance of the user.

Finally, the IP address can determine the content that can be viewed when local restrictions, for example for reasons of audiovisual rights, are applied by a site or service. By hiding your IP address and geolocation, you can circumvent these restrictions. This is a plus, but overall, the first motivation is simply to be able to browse the Internet in a completely serene way.

Solutions for full protection: VPN and Anti-tracking

Now that we have established the risks and the reasons for protecting ourselves, how do we do it? Two tools will mainly help you protect your privacy on the Internet. The first is the VPN. Generally available as a subscription, a VPN allows you to create a secure tunnel between you and the sites you visit, VPN standing for Virtual Private Network. Concretely, a VPN service offers thousands of servers around the world, and by connecting to one of these servers, you establish a private connection: imagine a large, completely opaque virtual cable, whose exchanges nobody can see, because it is encrypted. You can use a VPN in two ways. Generally, it gives you access to an application that will allow you either to automatically connect to the server closest to you, or to choose a server in a specific country. In the first case, you favor the connection speed, and in the second you benefit from the advantages of choosing your “destination”. A VPN hides your IP address and geolocation since what the site sees is data from the VPN server and more from your computer.

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The other effective tool is anti tracking. Here, the problem is different. An anti track does not protect your IP address. On the other hand, it will scramble the data which can identify you, in particular as a marketing target by changing them regularly, and by blocking the identification cookies. Most websites follow you from site to site to build a profile of your activity based on the sites you've visited, your screen resolution, or your web browser brand. With an anti-tracking tool, you can escape this tracking which does not directly threaten your data but which poses big problems in terms of the confidentiality of your activity on the Internet.

Get a VPN, Anti-tracking and other tools with the Avast Ultimate offer

With these two tools combined, you have a complete solution to preserve your anonymity and the confidentiality of your exchanges on the Internet. And you can find them in one and the same subscription. Avast Ultimate is a complete package that includes an award-winning security suite with antivirus, anti-ransomware or phishing modules and smart firewall. With Avast Premium Security, you protect all your devices, whether PC, Mac, iOS or Android, from web threats. SecureLine VPN is a complete and unlimited VPN that guarantees your anonymity and allows you to hide your IP address and your geolocation, and to take advantage of an encrypted connection to guarantee the security of your navigation on public Wi-Fi networks. Avast Ultimate also protects your internet activity from tracking devices with Avast AntiTrack Premium, a tool that makes it harder to identify you on the web, through regular modification of your digital fingerprint and web browser trace cleaning tools. Finally, with Cleanup Premium, you guarantee the maintenance of the performance of your devices, but also their security with an automatic updates module that allows you to avoid the exploitation of security vulnerabilities. Check out Avast Ultimate and enjoy discounts of up to 60% right now!

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This content was produced in partnership with Avast. BFMTV's editorial staff did not participate in the production of this content.